Lawrence McCutcheon

Lawrence McCutcheon died on Friday, October 23, 2026, at the age of 76, following a long battle with Parkinson's disease. His family said he died "with family at his bedside." The place of death and funeral arrangements had not been made public.

"It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our husband, brother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Lawrence McCutcheon," the family said in a statement released through the Rams. "Through a decade-long playing career and another 32 years in the Rams' front office, Clutch earned the respect and admiration of teammates, opposing players, colleagues and fans alike. Clutch will be missed and remembered forever." In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research.

The Rams said they were "deeply saddened," calling him "a five-time Pro Bowl running back and once the franchise's all-time leading rusher" whose "legacy is woven into the fabric of our team." His death came one day after another Rams great, Marshall Faulk, announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and two days before the Rams' game against the Raiders.

Lawrence McCutcheon was born on June 2, 1950, in Plainview, Texas, a farming town on the High Plains north of Lubbock, and he was raised there. His family has continued to live in the area; in 2024 he told the Plainview Herald that he still returned once or twice a year to see relatives.

He came of age as Plainview's schools were fully integrated. After full integration in 1967, he played one season of varsity football at Plainview High School, where the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame records him as a 6-2, 215 pound player who rushed for 589 yards for a team that went 7-3. He graduated from Plainview High School in 1968. Details of his parents and childhood have not been widely published.

McCutcheon enrolled at Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1968, when the school competed in the Western Athletic Conference. Freshmen were not then eligible for varsity play, and he lettered from 1969 through 1971.

As a sophomore halfback in 1969 he ran for 797 yards before a broken wrist ended his season, and he was named WAC Back of the Year. That season he also became the first Colorado State player to rush for more than 200 yards in a game, a feat he repeated in 1970. In 1970 he became the first player in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season, with 1,008, ranked fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game and earned Associated Press honorable mention All-America honors. He topped 1,000 yards again as a senior in 1971 with 1,112.

He finished with 2,917 rushing yards, eight 100 yard games and more than 20 school records, was a first team All-WAC selection in 1970 and 1971, and received the Nye Award in 1972. He also ran track for Colorado State in 1971 and 1972. Colorado State's Hall of Fame biography calls him "The Clutch," and "Clutch" remained his nickname throughout his professional life.

The Los Angeles Rams drafted McCutcheon in the third round of the 1972 NFL draft with the 70th overall pick. He appeared in three games without recording a statistic as a rookie, then broke out in 1973 under new head coach Chuck Knox, rushing for 1,097 yards at 5.2 yards per carry.

Knox's run heavy offense, nicknamed "Ground Chuck," made McCutcheon its workhorse. Running behind Hall of Fame guard Tom Mack, he led the Rams in rushing five consecutive seasons from 1973 to 1977 and was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of them. He ran for 1,109 yards in 1974, when he was named second team All-Pro, 911 in 1975, 1,168 with nine touchdowns in 1976 and a career high 1,238 in 1977. He was also a reliable receiver, catching a career best 39 passes for 408 yards in 1974.

On December 27, 1975, in an NFC divisional playoff against the St. Louis Cardinals at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, he carried 37 times for 202 yards in a 35-23 victory, a postseason rushing record at the time. The Rams won seven straight NFC West titles from 1973 to 1979 and reached the playoffs in each of his final seven seasons with the club.

Injuries reduced his role in 1978 and 1979. His last game for the Rams was Super Bowl XIV on January 20, 1980, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Late in the first half he took a pitch and threw a 24 yard touchdown pass to Ron Smith on a halfback option, giving the Rams a 19-17 lead. Pittsburgh won 31-19.

He left the Rams as the franchise's all-time leading rusher, with 6,186 yards on 1,425 carries in eight seasons. He played for the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks in 1980 and closed his career with the Buffalo Bills in 1981, reuniting with Knox. His career totals were 109 games, 82 starts, 1,521 carries for 6,578 yards and 26 touchdowns, plus 198 receptions for 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns. He wore numbers 30, 31 and 33 during his career.

McCutcheon joined the Rams' personnel department in 1982, the season after his final game, and stayed with the organization for more than three decades, through the franchise's years in Anaheim and St. Louis. His family's statement described "another 32 years in the Rams' front office" after his playing career.

He served as a scout and director of scouting, and in May 2003 the Rams promoted him to director of player personnel. He spent his last four seasons as a national scout. On August 18, 2016, shortly after the team's return to Los Angeles, the Rams announced his retirement after 42 seasons with the organization, and he remained as a consultant to the personnel department. In total he spent 44 years in the NFL.

"The contributions he made as a player as well as a talent evaluator in our personnel department have been invaluable to this organization," general manager Les Snead said. "We will miss 'Clutch' being around on routine basis, but he will always be an important part of our family."

McCutcheon was married to the former Mina Cooper, who coached Plainview High School's girls' basketball team in its first season, the year before the program joined UIL play in 1978-1979, according to the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame.

His son, Daylon McCutcheon, was born in Los Angeles in 1976 and raised by his mother, Debbie Sterling. A 1993 Los Angeles Times profile reported that Daylon did not know his father while growing up. Daylon became a standout cornerback at Bishop Amat High School and USC and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round in 1999.

In 1977 Jet magazine reported that McCutcheon was rumored to be dating Scherrie Payne of the Supremes. His family's 2026 statement described him as a husband, brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He continued to attend Rams alumni gatherings in Southern California, including the 2016 Rich Saul Memorial Golf Classic and a 2016 NFL All-Access event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

McCutcheon kept a low public profile and rarely spoke about himself in the press, and no political or religious positions of his have been publicly documented. Teammates and colleagues consistently described a dependable, humble presence. Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood said in 2016, "You just knew when we snapped the ball, he was going to carry it and he was going to get it done. I trusted him a lot as a teammate." Veteran NFL writer Howard Balzer called him "just a down-to-earth awesome guy."

He remained tied to his hometown throughout his life. Accepting his place on the Plainview Walk of Fame in 2024, he described the honor simply: "The journey has been completed."

McCutcheon was the engine of the Rams' 1970s teams that won seven consecutive division titles, and he left the franchise as its career rushing leader before Eric Dickerson's arrival. As of 2026 he still ranked fourth in Rams history in rushing yards, behind Steven Jackson, Dickerson and Marshall Faulk. He was named to the Los Angeles Rams 40th Anniversary Team, and his halfback option touchdown pass in Super Bowl XIV was the first Super Bowl touchdown pass in Rams history.

At Colorado State he set the template for the school's great running backs as its first 1,000 yard rusher, and he is a member of the CSU Athletics Hall of Fame and All-Century Team.

His second career may have been as important as his first. Over more than three decades as a scout and personnel executive he helped evaluate and assemble Rams rosters, including the teams of the St. Louis years. The Rams' statement on his death said his "impact on this organization spanned generations, and he embodied what it means to be a Ram."

• WAC Back of the Year (1969)
• First team All-WAC (1970, 1971)
• Associated Press honorable mention All-American (1970)
• Nye Award, Colorado State (1972)
• Pro Bowl (5 times, 1973 to 1977 seasons)
• Second team All-Pro (1974)
• All-NFC (1977); second team All-NFC (1973, 1975, 1976)
• Los Angeles Rams 40th Anniversary Team
• Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted 1989)
• Colorado State All-Century Team
• Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame (inductee number 133)
• Plainview Walk of Fame (plaque unveiled October 26, 2024)

McCutcheon features in Rams season highlight films of the 1970s, including the Rams yearbook film "A Hat Trick in the West" on the 1975 season, and in broadcast footage of Super Bowl XIV. Colorado State's 1971 highlight film features his senior season. In 1974 he took part in a celebrity mixed doubles tennis exhibition in Claremont, California, partnering Tracy Austin against Elgin Baylor and Lea Antonopolis. His death was reported by NBC Sports, the New York Post, Yahoo Sports and other outlets on October 23, 2026, with tributes from the Rams and former teammates.